Fortification of Zinc and Iron through spray in mungbean (Vigna radiata)

An agronomic investigation entitled ‘Fortification of Zinc and Iron through spray in mungbean (Vigna radiata)’ was carried out at experiment farm Agricultural Research Station, Badnapur, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidhyapeeth, Parbhani during kharif, 2023. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. The soil was clayey in texture having 30 cm depth with moderate moisture holding capacity which was good for normal growth of the crop. The recommended mungbean cv. BM 2003-2 was tested for this experiment along with these eight treatments. The treatment included with (T1) 0.5% ZnSO4 - spray at flower initiation, (T2) 0.5% ZnSO4 - spray at flower and pod initiation, (T3) 0.5% FeSO4 - spray at flower initiation, (T4) 0.5% FeSO4 - spray at flower and pod initiation, (T5) 0.5% ZnSO4 and FeSO4 - spray at flower initiation, (T6) 0.5% ZnSO4 and FeSO4 - spray at flower and pod initiation, (T7) 25 kg ha-1 ZnSO4 - through soil application and (T8) 10 kg ha-1 FeSO4 - through soil application. The gross plot size of experiment plot was 5.4 × 5.0 m2 and net plot size was 4.8 × 4.8 m2. The crop was sown by dibbling method at spacing 30 × 10 cm2. The effect of different treatments on yield and yield attributing characters viz., number of pods plant-1, number of seeds plant-1, 100 seed weight, seed yield plant-1, seed yield (kg ha-1), stover yield (kg ha-1) and harvest index (%) were considerably higher with application of treatment (T6) 0.5% ZnSO4 and FeSO4 - spray at flower and pod initiation and found at par with treatment (T5) 0.5% ZnSO4 and FeSO4 - spray at flower initiation and lower in the treatment (T1) 0.5% ZnSO4 - spray at flower initiation. Among the treatments, the maximum seed yield (1131 kg ha-1) was recorded with the application of treatment (T6) 0.5% ZnSO4 and FeSO4 - spray at flower and pod initiation and found significantly higher with treatment (T5) 0.5% ZnSO4 and FeSO4 - spray at flower initiation and rest of the treatments. The lowest seed yield (695 kg ha-1) was recorded in treatment (T1) 0.5% ZnSO4 - spray at flower initiation. On the basis of economics, highest gross monetary returns and net monetary returns were recorded with the application of the treatment (T6) 0.5% ZnSO4 and FeSO4 - spray at flower and pod initiation (₹ 80165 ha-1) followed by treatment (T5) 0.5% ZnSO4 and FeSO4 - spray at flower initiation. The minimum gross monetary return and net monetary return was observed with application of treatment (T1) 0.5% ZnSO4 - spray at flower initiation (₹ 49393 ha-1) in mungbean crop. Similar trend was observed in case of benefit: cost ratio was obtained with treatment (T6) 0.5% ZnSO4 and FeSO4 - spray at flower and pod initiation (2.15) and minimum benefit: cost ratio was concluded with the application of treatment (T1) 0.5% ZnSO4 - spray at flower initiation (1.40).